Ruckus over ST Co-operative Bank in Maharashtra Legislative Council

Nagpur, Dec 11 : The Maharashtra Legislative Council on Monday witnessed ruckus over the "inaction" against directors of ST Co-operative Bank, led by Gunaratna Sadavarte, which is reportedly on verge of bankruptcy.

Raising the issue immediately after the question hour, senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Parab said that Sadavarte and his wife were inducted as technical board members while "Sadavartes brother-in-law, a just 23-year-old youth, who has no adequate experience in the profession, was appointed as the Managing Director of the bank".

"Moreover, the new directors slashed the interest rate from 9 per cent to 7 per cent that resulted in withdrawal of 180-crore FD (fixed deposits) by the account holders while application for withdrawal of Rs 450-crore are pending before the bank," he said.

Parab said that among the 18 board members, 14 had "objected to the functioning of Sadavarte" and the Reserve Bank of India served a notice to the bank and "hence the government should dissolve the present board of directors and appoint an administration to save the crores of FD and accounts of poor ST workers".

Opposition leaders Ambadas Danve of Shiv Sena (UBT), Sachin Ahir and others created ruckus in the House on the issue and demanded immediate dissolution of the board and appointment of an administrator.

State Minister for Co-operation Dilip Walse Patil said that his department and the RBI have received complaints against the directors of the bank and an enquiry against alleged irregularities under the cooperative rule of 89 (A) has been initiated after getting a letter from the RBI.

joseph/sha